I recently received gifts from my niece ('ニース' = めい ) & nephew ('ネフュー' = おい) in Thailand. Can you believe the stamps on their packages? Nice! I love getting mail from foreign countries. Thanks, guys.
Spelling
- the spelling rule "i before e, except after c" is usually true (NIEce, beLIEve, reCEIve,), but some weird (= strange) words are different e.g. WEIrd, tHEIr, foREIgn.
When I was a kid, my brothers & I had small toy field guns (野砲) which fired matches*. Nowadays that kind of toy isn`t popular & is hard to find, so I decided to make my own. After making it, I decided to make a matching** jeep.
To fire this toy field gun, you put a match in the barrel (銃身), pull the 'trigger' at the back (which is attached to a spring) then release it.
The toy soldiers are WW2 Australian soldiers. You can tell (見分ける) by their large hats.
Vocabulary
* match (名詞) = マッチ, 燐寸
** match (動詞) = 対応
When I went to Fukui last week, I was pleased to find some more fishing floats on the beach. I added a few* of the nicer ones to my display case collection. It looks better now, right?
Nowadays I have few** chances to do serious beachcombing, so I wondered when I would be able to complete my display case collection. I`m glad I`ve completed it.
Grammar
- * a few + 名詞 = 4/5/6
- ** few + 名詞 = 少ない
I stayed two nights at Wakasa-Wada Campsite. I love camping by the beach – the sound of waves, the smell of a campfire, the sight of thousands of stars at night... wonderful. On the other hand, the taste of bugs in your food, the feel of sand in your underwear...not so great.
Grammar
- __ の音/香り/光景/味/気持ち = the sound/smell/sight/taste/feel of ___
As I was passing this fishing port in Takahama Town, I could hear someone playing a violin...badly. I stopped & looked around and I saw a young guy standing alone, practicing his violin. There was nobody else around. Haha - it made me think of a book that I read when I was a child called "A Little Boy with a Big Horn". His tuba annoyed everyone, including farm animals, so eventually he had to play on a small boat at sea.
Vocabulary
- someone, anyone, no-one, everyone = somebody, anybody, nobody, everybody
Walking along the beach in Wakasa at about 4:30pm, I was getting a bit cold, so I was surprised to see so many surfers in the cold water. They must love surfing.
Speaking of strange sea creatures, I found an unusual shell, about 15cm long, on the beach. When I got home I researched it. It`s from a kind of octopus called a paper nautilus. It`s the first time I`ve seen this kind of shell.
Vocabulary
- Speaking of ___ = ___ と言えば
I`ve visited old red brick buildings in Handa & Tsuruga, but this collection of buildings in Maizuru is much bigger. It was interesting - I like these kinds of places. Also, because Maizuru is a JMSDF (Japan Marine Self-Defense Force) port, you can see their ships nearby. If you`re into that kind of thing, you should visit Maizuru.
Vocabulary
- What kind of...? = どんな...?
- This/That kind of... = こんな, この種な / あんな, その様な...
Last week I visited the Gifu Museum of Fine Arts for the first time. It had just re-opened after renovations. My first surprise was that entry was free - nice! Then as I entered the main gallery, I was surprised to find that the lady at the entrance was an old student of mine! We chatted quietly - in English of course - for a while, then I entered the room & looked at the art. The highlights for me were prints by Gaugin & Munch.
Vocabulary
- enter = 入る (動詞) entrance = 入口 (名詞) entry = 入場 (名詞)
The weather is getting cold* now, so some of the limes on my lime tree were turning yellow*, & a few had gone bad* (悪くなる), so I decided to pick all of them. I got more than I expected.
What will I do with them? Well, I like lime juice on dishes such as fried rice (like Thai people do), & my wife likes lime-sour alcoholic drinks. She said limes cost about ¥100 each at the supermarket, so she`s glad she can get them for free.
Grammar:
- *get/turn/go + 形容詞 = become + 形容詞
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PSPINC JP 
内倉憲一 
bokushi 
田仲なお美 
yukio 
KUMA 
birdy 
mokomoko 
TERAGOYA おとな 
エメラルド